Patience is a Virtue
by theunaveragelifeofateenagegirl
Summary: Bass learns the values of courage, knowledge, fame, and patience. Little bits of Miloe here and there. The poem I used is "Courage has a Crimson Coat" by Nancy Byrd Turner.


_"Courage has a crimson coat, trimmed with trappings bold."_

Bass had always been one to have courage, lots of it, to be exact. I mean when you are a young man, especially one in the army, fear is not an option. Whether it be running into war or running into the bunker, courage had to be in your heart. You had to be ready at a moment's notice, and if you were scared, you died.

But Sebastian Monroe? No, he was never scared, he was never worried about anything and to himself, and he was invincible…under certain conditions. Bass was a codependent sort of fellow, always looking for someone else to make him brave. He found that person in Miles Matheson, where he rested trust and faith that he never knew he had. And how does this add up to courage you ask? It does because really, we all look to someone to make us brave, to know that if we're going down, someone else is coming down with us. It's comforting for some reason, to know you're not going to die alone.

So yes, Bass had courage, and he made it alright. He chugged along, and he taught himself to fight through all the challenges he faced, with Miles, of course. So when Miles "left" or "tried to assonate him", whichever term you prefer, Bass's courage slipped a bit. He started getting worried, paranoid so to speak, and he couldn't quite put his courage in others like Jeremy Baker or Tom Neville. I mean he tried, he tried to trust Jeremy and he tried to trust Neville, but he just couldn't. He couldn't be betrayed again, and he couldn't take the hurt that came with it.

_"Knowledge dons a dress of note."_

The term knowledge could mean many things; it could mean common sense, it could mean history smarts, it could mean political information, it could mean anything. One of the things that was interesting about Bass, however, was his little ramblings of useless knowledge. He knew the sorts of things that almost no one else would pay one care to. He could tell you when things were invented, dates and places of war, old tv show actors, and languages. Oh languages, it wasn't odd for Bass to walk up to Miles and greet him in a random language; he probably knew basics in about ten of them for Pete's sake.

But besides the pointless, Bass really did just seem to have an air of knowledge that surrounded him wherever he went. Because if you carry yourself like you know everything, you know everything, even if you really don't. Bass was really a professional at that; that's why he was considered the brains of the operations between him and Miles. Miles was more of an act first, think later type of guy, and Bass was simply the opposite. That's why they worked well together I suppose; they complimented each other both militarily and emotionally.

_"Fame's is cloth of gold." _

Fame is fame right? It can be good, it can be bad, but it's all the same. It's attention, and it can be disguised in many forms. Military fame, however, differs by the day. One day you are on top of the world, and the next you're sleeping in the garbage. Bass had experienced both, and he was a tad fonder of the first. When you're doing well, all is well, for most everyone respects you and those who don't are punished. When you aren't doing well, no one pays you the slightest care, and high powers and poors spit on you alike.

"_Far they ride and fair they roam, much they do and dare."_

Experience is your greatest ally, for the more you do and learn, the better you can handle tasks of any difficulty. You're always learning, and you will always take something new out of a situation if you really try to find it. Someone is always going to know more than you, and the best you can do is learn from them. That's how Bass looked to Miles, as a mentor, a friend, and a brother. The bad thing is, mixing those traits can be deadly, and they both had to try hard to keep them separate.

_"Gray gowned patience sits at home, and weaves the stuff they wear."_

Patience is a virtue, at least that's what they say. Miles had always lacked in the patience department, and had always been more willing to shoot first, ask questions later as the saying goes. Bass, however, was a little too thoughtful and patient on the situations than was healthy. He would basically let the enemy get two inches from his face before deciding it might be smart to save himself. It was good and bad, for instance there were no innocent causalities on his part, but there was also not a big number on his kill roll.

But Bass has always believed good over evil, and waiting over hasting, until recently. He had strong morals and righteous thoughts until someone important fell out of his life. More like threatened to kill him and walk away I guess. But the one thing Bass was and wasn't thankful for, was that Miles thought before he shot.


End file.
